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So I've been avoiding POVs, reports, etc to kind of keep the element of surprise up and opinions my own, as my bf and I were attending the Passport to Thrills event today. Also the past year or so I've been kind of negative about operations/issues we've had going to this park. We've actively avoided it in favor of the other parks in Central Florida due to our experiences. I'm happy to say that the park totally nailed it for this event and went a long way getting some of that old charm back. The employees working the event were hyping it up with everyone, operations were great, even the coaster cooperated well and we didn't see any downtime while we were there (though I heard there was some brief downtime earlier in the morning). They also extended the event so that registered guests could ride all day instead of just during the original reserved time slots. This was a great decision and we had an awesome day! As for the coaster, it's truly amazing and I can't believe we have this to ride here in Florida. We got to the park in the early afternoon and with our first 2 or so rides on it, I would have probably told you that I prefer Steel Vengeance. We've also had a good amount of rides on Steel Vengeance as we usually visit once a year for 3-4 days at a time, usually in August. As the afternoon warmed up into the mid-70s and the coaster warmed up with it, it became a whole new beast altogether, and this increased more with our night rides. The only RMCs that can leave my shins as bruised as they are right now are Twisted Timbers and Lightning Rod. I got grey bubbles in my vision pulling out of the first drop and the "death roll" is one of my favorite elements on an any coaster. Twisting out of it at the bottom of that element is seriously nuts, especially if you sit on the right side of the train. If you watch a POV it looks like there's no airtime. The wave turn and every one of the little bumps in the second half of the ride gave ejector air by the end of the day. The sensation of speed and "out of control" feeling (I feel like I'm quoting the old Mitch Hawker poll here) are so much better than on Steel Vengeance, of which I find can be a slightly repetitive coaster that feels a bit less "out of control" and more deliberate in it's motions. Just like...wow. I knew it was going to be good, I didn't think it was going to be this good. If the 2022 TPR Poll was being held tomorrow, I'd say I prefer Lightning Rod and Untamed, tie Iron Gwazi with Zadra next, and put Steel Vengeance right after. We got about a dozen rides on Iron Gwazi in total and I seriously can't wait to go back and ride it again.

There are tons of low-cost motels in Pigeon Forge, but some of them are sketchy and old, so remember, you get what you pay for. If you don't care about the quality, then shoot for a cheaper price. One of the cheap ones is Americana Inns and suites. https://www.americanainnpigeonforge.com/ Parking is expensive at the park. You can park and take the trolley for just $2.50. Park at Patriot Park for free and take the shuttle to Dollywood. Trolley's run 30 minutes prior to park opening and run until all guests leave the park at night. https://www.pigeonforge.com/trolley/

I couldn't fully tell you because I haven't been to a park on a Saturday in years, and intend to keep it that way.

Dude. Saturday. You'll be fine. The park will be more lively, and more fun. It fits into your schedule. You'll get a ton of rides.

^Antartica has been the exhibit-only experience for a few years now. You queue in the same way you did before, and you experience the first and second pre-shows that you would have seen before riding, but now you are sent directly into the open air animal exhibit.

If I were on that flight I'd be pissed too, and it's funny but in reality I've never in my life understood the complaints about Frontier. I break it down into two categories (aside from crazy circumstances like this): 1) People with unrealistic expectations. These are the people who go to Applebees and complain that their $8 burger is medium and not medium well. I grade them on a curve because they're Frontier. If I flew from New York to Orlando for less than it costs me to take a train into New York City from my house an hour away am I really supposed to get mad when my plane lands 40 minutes late or when the seat isn't very comfortable on my very-short flight (but is still better than United)? Am I really going to get mad when they want to charge me $2 for chips on a $25 flight and say that I would have free chips if I would have just flown on the $120 flight instead? Also, if they are 45 minutes late they'll give you a voucher that usually makes the flight basically free. 2) People who don't read, even when the text is huge and in giant red boxes and then show up at the airport claiming that there are hidden fees even though they agreed to them 3 times during the booking process. If you need checked bags and a huge carry-on, this airline isn't for you but you knew the size limits when you bought your ticket, I check that on every airline. The only fees that are really tough to find are the fee to print a paper boarding pass and to make a reservation over the phone and not on the website but honestly, what year is it? You should not book a connection a budget airline ever, but that should be common sense. I also prefer to fly from airports with multiple flights per day so I have options rather than a very small one with like 2 flights per week, but that's just me. The only gripe with them that I feel is legitimate is that they always change flight times a few weeks / months out. I absolutely hate that. One positive is that their customer service is excellent. If you call American, they call you back in 9 hours. If you call Frontier you'll be talking to a human within 5-15 minutes every time. Frontier isn't for everyone but even all things being equal, I don't think they're the worst airline that I've flown. JetBlue makes Frontier look punctual. I love their in-flight experience once you actually manage to get on the plane but they always screw us. American is a train wreck. Their website sucks, their customer service sucks and can't even use their crappy website properly and their hold times are often 8-9 hours. They also put us on a plane at Newark once and then told us that the pilot was stuck in traffic on the George Washington Bridge and would be there in an hour. Even Frontier would laugh at that... Also, the most unruly passenger I've ever seen (once on the plane) was also on American Airlines. lol

Checking QQ prices will let you know what the park thinks about the crowds.

Went back and saved my past review of SV in a word document, so I can copy/paste it here when I finally get around to riding Iron Gwazi. Fast/Airtime/Snappy Transitions/My legs hurt/Good for a couple rides, then done. Meanwhile: Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Iron Gwazi... Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer.Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Uber.

So... SFFT.... Best park in the chain?

According to reports private equity firm Centerbridge Partners has built a 5% stake in Cedar Fair. (WARNING: There might be a pay wall...)https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-11/centerbridge-is-said-to-build-stake-in-buyout-target-cedar-fair (No pay wall...I think...) https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/the-seaworld-buy-out-of-cedar-fair-just-took-an-interesting-turn I checked the SEC filings (as best as I could read them...) and Centerbridge has built the stake in the company, however they filled 13G forms which I think indicates that they do not intend to use their stake to influence Cedar Fair (At least in theory...). Cedar Fair has not commented on the stake. It looks like Centerbridge has previously been involved in hospitality through investments in Extended Stay America and Great Wolf Lodge. To me this seems to me that Wall Street thinks that a bidding war is gonna break out for CF and the stock price is gonna rise to to reflect that (It's currently trading at about $61/share, up approx.. 22% for the year). Cedar Fair's 4th quarter earnings call is on Wednesday (February 16, 2022), so my guess is that we will hear more then.

At GAdv we ACTUALLY saw someone smoking crack (or possibly heroin based on their reaction to it) while sitting with their family including small children just outside the King Da Ka entrance about 5 and half years ago. True story. Just last summer they had huge signs as you entered warning people that "marijuana possession would not be tolerated" even though from the skunky smell of the park that was clearly totally ignored. As far as SFFT I think their park president has a lot to do with it. He is just clearly so customer satisfaction and quality oriented and even though it sounds trite that sort of thing does trickle down to the employees and the quality of their work. We've been there once and as guests had a quality conversation with him, my son works at SFSTL and has never even met the park president there. Plus being able to design coasters to dive off of cliffs is just too cool.

Haven't been to Mexico, but I agree with you that Fiesta Texas and Great Adventure are both awesome and for completely different reasons. Just like Texas and New Jersey are both shitshows, but for very different reasons.

^ That's pretty much what they did with Top Thrill Dragster back in the day